Malia Obama will take a gap year before attending Harvard

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Most high school students spend senior year worrying about which college will accept them. But in the case of Malia Obama, the eldest daughter of president Obama, speculation has focused on which prestigious college she will choose to attend.

On Sunday, the White House announced Malia has made her decision, and will attend Harvard University after taking a gap year. This means she will begin university in 2017 and, if she takes the standard four years, graduate in the class of 2021.

Malia toured several prestigious colleges before making her decision. She was spotted wearing a Stanford University t-shirt in 2014, leading to speculation that Malia might follow fellow White House child Chelsea Clinton-Medvinsky’s footsteps and head to the west coast for university.

The Obamas have not commented on the reasoning behind Malia’s decision, or what she plans to do on her year off. But first lady Michelle Obama has spoken about her advice to her daughters on applying to college.

“The only thing I’ve been telling my daughters is that I don’t want them to choose a name,” she told Seventeen magazine. “I don’t want them to think, ‘Oh, I should go to these top schools.’ We live in a country where there’s thousands of amazing universities, so the question is—what’s going to work for you?”

After weighing up her options, it seems Malia Obama decided Harvard University was the right fit for her. So congratulations to the first daughter on her college choice—and compliments to Harvard, for being accepted by such a prestigious candidate.